Would the economy be better off if all of opebo's proposals were followed?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Absolutely. opebo understands the economy a lot better than anyone in Congress. Obama should've hired him as an economic advisor.

[RIP Robert H Bork]

oh God...

[anvi]

I think there is a method to opebo's economic posts.  But I won't say more. 

[Torie]

[Beet]

Despite that he happens to strike correct like a broken clock one or two times, I don't take opebo seriously. On this forum, he's more of a performance artist than an actual debater or maker or serious proposals.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Depends what proposals. As for taxing the rich, yes.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Voted no to the question as phrased, but some of them, definitely. I'm not sure if he's proposed any actual taxation rates, but I get the sense I'd probably find them a little excessive. I find his proposed minimum wage of $15 excessive but I think he's generally right that it needs to be a lot higher and coupled with much better unemployment benefits.

Just a little bit of a nutcase on several other issues, though.

[opebo]

Voted no to the question as phrased, but some of them, definitely. I'm not sure if he's proposed any actual taxation rates, but I get the sense I'd probably find them a little excessive. I find his proposed minimum wage of $15 excessive but I think he's generally right that it needs to be a lot higher and coupled with much better unemployment benefits.

Just a little bit of a nutcase on several other issues, though.

The rates I have proposed are merely the historical norm - about 70-90% for the vampiric class.  My personal preference would be for the higher figure, but I think the lower one is also workable if we don't mind the resultant aristocracy.

I would also like to see considerably higher rates on the merely privileged class - such as Torie.. in the 50-60% range.

Gentlemen, it cannot be news to you that capitalism doesn't work, or that careful State management of the economy through redistribution, regulation, and Keynesian macroeconomic practices is necessary to make it provide any benefit for the majority. 

My recommendations are simply the straightforward lessons of history and application of the most basic practical polices, nothing that warrants the pejoratives some of our more ideologically batty posters have leveled at me.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The rates I have proposed are merely the historical norm - about 70-90% for the vampiric class.  My personal preference would be for the higher figure, but I think the lower one is also workable if we don't mind the resultant aristocracy.

I would also like to see considerably higher rates on the merely privileged class - such as Torie.. in the 50-60% range.

I'd be comfortable with 70 and 50 as the top brackets, though I'd set them at ~60 and 40 myself.

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No disagreement here.

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I don't actually think you're nuts about any economic issues, even if I'm not one hundred per cent in agreement with you. And I also don't think that being nuts is necessarily a bad thing.

[Torie]

opebo, you are too late. I already made my money.

Oh, yes, I once was in the 50% bracket as a young lawyer. However I claimed about 70 dependents on my W-2 form, after buying some real estate, and got out of that bracket in a hurry. In the glory days, the code was even more rife with loopholes than now, including being able to use real estate depreciation as an offset to ordinary income.

As to those confiscatory rates of 93% and all, nobody except Frank Sinatra made enough money back then to be in those brackets - certainly not after using all the available deductions. Frank however limited his record production back then because he just didn't want to sing for 7% of the take. It was quite frustrating for Capitol Records.

[opebo]

I know all about those anecdotes, Torie.  My dear departed father was always building apartment complexes and selling them to doctors and lawyers back then - after all, forcing these privileged to funnel their ill gotten gains into cheap housing was the whole point of said loophole. 

What is your income nowadays?  No doubt it warrants a high marginal rate.

[Torie]

I know all about those anecdotes, Torie.  My dear departed father was always building apartment complexes and selling them to doctors and lawyers back then - after all, forcing these privileged to funnel their ill gotten gains into cheap housing was the whole point of said loophole. 

What is your income nowadays?  No doubt it warrants a high marginal rate.

My taxable income is pedestrian. I only work about a third of the time now.  Depreciation still defrays most of my net income from my real estate portfolio.  And  I have my little IRA account.  For some reason, the Left has missed so far the pension thing.

[ZuWo]

Tax brackets of 60% or even higher? Oh yes, what a great idea to destroy any nation's economy. Fortunately the politicians of my country - even those on the democratic left, for the record - are saner in that respect.

[opebo]

Tax brackets of 60% or even higher? Oh yes, what a great idea to destroy any nation's economy. Fortunately the politicians of my country - even those on the democratic left, for the record - are saner in that respect.

Zuzu, there's no such thing as 'any nation's economy', only its government.  The economy is just how the State distributes.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Tax brackets of 60% or even higher? Oh yes, what a great idea to destroy any nation's economy. Fortunately the politicians of my country - even those on the democratic left, for the record - are saner in that respect.

Yeah, sure. That certainly explains why at the height of its prosperity the US had 70% tax rates...

[ZuWo]

Tax brackets of 60% or even higher? Oh yes, what a great idea to destroy any nation's economy. Fortunately the politicians of my country - even those on the democratic left, for the record - are saner in that respect.

Yeah, sure. That certainly explains why at the height of its prosperity the US had 70% tax rates...

We should not forget to say that during the years of "prosperity" you are talking about there were massive tax loopholes for the rich, so in fact 70% was merely a theoretical number for many.

Broadly speaking, if there are excessive tax rates without any loopholes in a particular place rich people are driven away from that place. Many of them move to places with lower taxes. As a result, the country/region where tax rates are excessively high is going to receive lower tax revenues. And that's really not clever.

[Gustaf]

Since Opebo doesn't know anything at all about economics, his ideas would destroy the economy in a year or two.

[Torie]

Since Opebo doesn't know anything at all about economics, his ideas would destroy the economy in a year or two.

Probably more like a week or two, if his little plan to "monetize" our debt by printing 15 trillion dollars is implemented. 

[opebo]

Since Opebo doesn't know anything at all about economics, his ideas would destroy the economy in a year or two.

There is no causative argument there, adolescent.  

[opebo]

Probably more like a week or two, if his little plan to "monetize" our debt by printing 15 trillion dollars is implemented. 

Please stop trolling, Torie.

[WalterMitty]

is brtd the only person that takes opebo seriously?

brtd takes everything literally.

[Torie]

Probably more like a week or two, if his little plan to "monetize" our debt by printing 15 trillion dollars is implemented.  

Please stop trolling, Torie.

I thought you favored this approach opebo. Did I misunderstand you?  I suppose I could look up your post. By the way, I found some data for you on real median incomes over time. Aren't I a nice fellow to do that for you? 

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

While the OP didn't phrase it like this, if "all of anyone's proposals were implemented all at once", it would be a disaster. The more aggressive the change, the more disastrous the results. Such changes need to be implemented over a period of years. Opebo's are so aggressive that no amount of time would be enough to prevent the disaster.

The rates I have proposed are merely the historical norm - about 70-90% for the vampiric class.  My personal preference would be for the higher figure, but I think the lower one is also workable if we don't mind the resultant aristocracy.

I would also like to see considerably higher rates on the merely privileged class - such as Torie.. in the 50-60% range.

I'd be comfortable with 70 and 50 as the top brackets, though I'd set them at ~60 and 40 myself.

I'd be comfortable with 50% and 40%, though I would prefer 45% and 36% myself.

[opebo]

Probably more like a week or two, if his little plan to "monetize" our debt by printing 15 trillion dollars is implemented.  

Please stop trolling, Torie.

I thought you favored this approach opebo. Did I misunderstand you?  I suppose I could look up your post.

The behavior in question is I think 'straw-manning', a kind of discourse which is destructive of real argumentation.  Of course I never proposed a sudden printing of 15 trillion as you well know.

[opebo]

... Opebo's are so aggressive that no amount of time would be enough to prevent the disaster.

Not at all, SNC.  I'm merely proposing a return to that which prevailed 30 years ago, plus a few minor additions.  So, give me 30 years and it should be easy.  Your children will be better off for it.